The FA’s official position is that all players involved in police investigations remain available for selection until such a point as they have been found guilty, but given the sensitivity of the issue, it may prefer to take Terry out of the line of fire. Terry could also take that decision himself, although given his determination to clear his name, such a course appears unlikely.

Terry says he is innocent. Why, then, would he resign his post?

Daily Mail: “Police take over Terry probe”

The Metropolitan Police:

“Police were notified of an incident on Sunday, October 23 involving alleged racial abuse. This is currently being investigated by officers from Hammersmith and Fulham.”

JOHN TERRY found himself under even more intense pressure last night in his bust-up with Anton Ferdinand. The Metropolitan Police have taken over the probe into his alleged racial slur against the QPR defender.
As a result the FA have now halted their own inquiries, which they had hoped to conclude this week, until the police complete their investigation.

But it has left them in a difficult position over whether Terry can captain England against Spain at Wembley on November 12.

The FA have a history with the Spanish concerning racism, having called on UEFA to take strong action over abusive chanting during a friendly international at Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium seven years ago.
Both Terry and Anton’s brother, Rio, took part in that match, which saw Spain fined 100,000 Swiss francs after their fans racially taunted Ashley Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jermaine Jenas.

The Spanish made monkey noises. We all heard them. There was no need for an investigation,

The irony of Terry captaining his country will not be lost on Spain if he gets the armband at Wembley.

But Terry has not been proven guilty of racism. He says he is innocent. There is no irony to be found.

Tony Evans, The Times

They probably considered it terrace wit. But last night, when Chelsea fans sang, “Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are,” the racism affair took an even uglier turn. It would be charitable to believe that those supporters were calling Ferdinand a liar. Except the Queens Park Rangers defender has made no allegations against John Terry. The only conclusion is that they were alluding to the words Terry admitted using in his exchange with Ferdinand, including “black c***”…

Imagine how black Chelsea fans must feel? How comfortable would they be sharing the stands with those who raised their voice against Ferdinand last night? Or black fans of any club? And how do José Bosingwa, Ashley Cole, Ramires, Nicolas Anelka or Florent Malouda, who were on the pitch, feel? Or Daniel Sturridge and Salomon Kalou sitting next to Terry on the bench? Some will try to explain it away by pointing to Chelsea supporters’ past links with right-wing groups, such as Combat 18 and Paul Canoville’s experiences 30 years ago when he was abused for having the temerity to be a black man with the ability to wear the shirt.

Ed Smith, The Times:

The chivalric Chelsea fan (bear with me) doesn’t try to defend John Terry on the basis that he has helped Chelsea to win lots of titles. Instead, he says to his girlfriend: “Victory without honour is no victory at all.”

George Caulkin, The Times:

Newcastle United have complained to police after Sammy Ameobi, their centre forward, was subjected to racist abuse on Twitter, the social networking site. Ameobi, the brother of Shola, the long-serving Newcastle striker, became the latest high-profile footballer to become embroiled in an incident involving race. After Ameobi tweeted a photograph of an all-black pair of football boots on Sunday, he received a reply from an account credited to @JonnnnyPhipps which read: “your hand is nearly the same colour. #n*****.” Ameobi’s response — “Sad to see some people are still racist nowadays,” he tweeted — led to a stream of supportive messages from Newcastle and other supporters, as well as condemnation of his aggressor. The @JonnnnyPhipps account has since been closed down.

@JohnnyPhipps is, to the best of our knowledge, not the Twitter address of a professional football. Still, Caulkin makes the link:

Newcastle, who have long played an active role in promoting anti-racist causes, are determined not to let the issue drop, however, and have asked the authorities to investigate.

Sammy was abused because he plays for Newcastle?

“The club and Sammy have reported the matter to the police, who are now dealing with the incident,” they said in a statement. “The racist comment is wholly unacceptable. Newcastle United will not tolerate racism of any kind and will take the strongest possible action against those responsible.”

Is Sammy Ameobi unable to report the matter to the police on his own? Why do his employer’s have to do it? Are all footballers always footballers? What has the story got to do with Newcastle FC?